EASY TARGETS
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Professionals working with senior citizens are troubled to note that the recent murders of the elderly have resulted from the soured relationship between the employer and the domestic help. They advise seniors, who live alone, to treat their helpers with a mix of care and caution for they can become an easy target of helpers who are nursing a grouse.
Like the Santa Cruz and Worli killings, the Breach Candy murder, a crime which was televised, involved the massacre of an entire family in north India by their domestic help from Nepal. One night, in a fit, he bludgeoned the couple and their son to death as they slept, sparing only their young daughter, who had been considerate towards him.
Sheilu Sreenivasan of the Dignity Foundation says, the elderly living alone, must register themselves and their helpers with the police. Employers must not be cruel or make unreasonable demands on their workers, she says. She says one must remember that a helper driven to frustration may avenge a salary cut or refusal of leave in a criminal manner. It is better to protect yourself by handing over ten days salary, rather than be made to pay a heavy price for it afterward.
Busting the myth that an employers relationship with a domestic help of many years is a healthy one, Prakash Borgaonkar of Helpage India points to the double murder of Dilip and Varsha Randheri in Santa Cruz on February 16. Their domestic help Sandeep had worked with them for 11 years, and he believed he had suffered much harassment, during that period. Things came to a head when he was denied a salary hike and a few hours of leave, and one day he killed them, says Borgaonkar.
One of the things that senior citizens should realise is that the domestic helps of today are not cast in the same mould as the old retainer or lifelong supportive servant as was the case in the past, says clinical psychologist Narendra Kinger.
Finally, when a soured relationship reaches breaking point, experts advise elders to part amicably rather than leave behind an antagonised employee who may apply his mind to avenge the slight. Sreenivasan, herself a senior citizen, tactfully let go of a maidservant who had made a habit of stealing things. Kinger says one should sack a servant only after verbal reprimands delivered in a humane fashion have failed to work.
Like the Santa Cruz and Worli killings, the Breach Candy murder, a crime which was televised, involved the massacre of an entire family in north India by their domestic help from Nepal. One night, in a fit, he bludgeoned the couple and their son to death as they slept, sparing only their young daughter, who had been considerate towards him.
Sheilu Sreenivasan of the Dignity Foundation says, the elderly living alone, must register themselves and their helpers with the police. Employers must not be cruel or make unreasonable demands on their workers, she says. She says one must remember that a helper driven to frustration may avenge a salary cut or refusal of leave in a criminal manner. It is better to protect yourself by handing over ten days salary, rather than be made to pay a heavy price for it afterward.
Busting the myth that an employers relationship with a domestic help of many years is a healthy one, Prakash Borgaonkar of Helpage India points to the double murder of Dilip and Varsha Randheri in Santa Cruz on February 16. Their domestic help Sandeep had worked with them for 11 years, and he believed he had suffered much harassment, during that period. Things came to a head when he was denied a salary hike and a few hours of leave, and one day he killed them, says Borgaonkar.
One of the things that senior citizens should realise is that the domestic helps of today are not cast in the same mould as the old retainer or lifelong supportive servant as was the case in the past, says clinical psychologist Narendra Kinger.
Finally, when a soured relationship reaches breaking point, experts advise elders to part amicably rather than leave behind an antagonised employee who may apply his mind to avenge the slight. Sreenivasan, herself a senior citizen, tactfully let go of a maidservant who had made a habit of stealing things. Kinger says one should sack a servant only after verbal reprimands delivered in a humane fashion have failed to work.